Instead of a binding referendum or a vote in Parliament, Australia is holding a nonbinding, voluntary, postal plebiscite to determine whether Australians support same-sex marriage legalization. For many young Australians, who support marriage equality by large margins, a vote that seems designed to limit their participation is having the opposite effect.

There's some opposition, including from a Massachusetts anti-gay organization. But supporters in Taiwan say they have the endorsement of a bipartisan group of almost half of parliament. And marriage equality has the backing of President Tsai Ing-wen, who campaigned on the issue.

No other country in the world has had a popular vote to allow same-sex couples to marry — and that's just fine with some LGBT activists. They say minority rights aren't a question for popular votes, and they're afraid of rejection, even in Ireland.

When Ashers Bakery Company refused to make a "pro-gay marriage" cake, it sparked a legal battle of the kind now familiar in the United States. Now a court has ruled in favor of the customer who brought the suit, but many people are unhappy with the ruling.

Polls say Ireland will become the first country on Earth to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. But while dissenters, including the Catholic Church, haven't spoken out loudly, the vote on Friday might still be closer than expected.

When a same-sex couple arrived at Clela Rorex's county office in 1975 to ask for a marriage license, she said yes. That decision may have been the first act in the long and still-incomplete battle for same-sex unions. Rorex says she wouldn't change a thing.

While the US Supreme Court debated the constitutionality of same-sex marriages Tuesday, the Mexican Supreme Court has long recognized the legality of same-sex unions. And that ruling has stirred far less controversy there than similar rulings have in the US.

When a same-sex couple arrived at Clela Rorex's county office in 1975 to ask for a marriage license, she said yes. That decision may have been the first act in the long and still-incomplete battle for same-sex unions. Rorex says she wouldn't change a thing.

Instead of a binding referendum or a vote in Parliament, Australia is holding a nonbinding, voluntary, postal plebiscite to determine whether Australians support same-sex marriage legalization. For many young Australians, who support marriage equality by large margins, a vote that seems designed to limit their participation is having the opposite effect.

While the US Supreme Court debated the constitutionality of same-sex marriages Tuesday, the Mexican Supreme Court has long recognized the legality of same-sex unions. And that ruling has stirred far less controversy there than similar rulings have in the US.

There's some opposition, including from a Massachusetts anti-gay organization. But supporters in Taiwan say they have the endorsement of a bipartisan group of almost half of parliament. And marriage equality has the backing of President Tsai Ing-wen, who campaigned on the issue.

When Ashers Bakery Company refused to make a "pro-gay marriage" cake, it sparked a legal battle of the kind now familiar in the United States. Now a court has ruled in favor of the customer who brought the suit, but many people are unhappy with the ruling.

Polls say Ireland will become the first country on Earth to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. But while dissenters, including the Catholic Church, haven't spoken out loudly, the vote on Friday might still be closer than expected.

No other country in the world has had a popular vote to allow same-sex couples to marry — and that's just fine with some LGBT activists. They say minority rights aren't a question for popular votes, and they're afraid of rejection, even in Ireland.

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